Box Score
WADL TV-38 Highlights

DETROIT (12/8/13) – The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team used an early second half run, capped off by some clutch free throws down the stretch, to grab its third home win of the season, 70-68, over Rhode Island Sunday afternoon at Historic Calihan Hall.

The Rams led 32-27 at the half, before the Titans used a 12-3 run to take a lead they would not relinquish. This marks Detroit's second second-half comeback over the last three games.

Detroit (5-5) was led by junior forward Juwan Howard Jr. who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, while senior co-captain Evan Bruinsma added 15 points, five rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard Matthew Grant scored 11 points, while classmate Jarod Williams and senior center Ugochukwu Njoku pitched in eight points, respectively. Williams also dished out four assists in the game, while junior forward Patrick Onwenu covered every part of the stat line with seven points, seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocked shots.

The Titans opened the game with an early 10-4 run, before Rhode Island responded with a 10-1 run to take its first lead of the game 14-11 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half. Detroit trimmed the Rams lead to 16-15 with eight minutes left, before URI went on a 12-5 run to build a 28-20 lead with 3:42 remaining. The Titans closed the half with a 7-4 run including a pair of layups from Grant and Njoku to make it a five point game as both teams entered the locker room. Howard led Detroit with nine points in the first half, while Grant added seven.

After three-pointer from Xavier Munford gave URI an eight point lead, 35-27, to start the second stanza, the Titans responded with a 12-0 run to regain the lead 39-35 - one it wouldn't relinquish - with 15:19 left. Detroit extended its lead to 65-57, it largest of the game, with just under five minutes remaining, before the Rams crawed back to make it a one point game, 69-68 with eight seconds left. Bruinsma then grabbed a key rebound and made a clutch free throw with four seconds left to help seal the win.

Detroit finished shooting 43.5 percent (27-of-62) overall, including 51.7 percent (15-of-29) in the second half, while URI shot 46.6 percent (27-of-58) overall. The Titans only made 2-of-7 from the charity stripe in the first half, but responded by making 13-of-15 in the second half to finish 15-of-22, while the Rams only made 8-of-19.

Munford led Rhode Island (6-5) with a game-high 22 points, while Gilvydas Biruta added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Detroit native E.C. Mathews finished with 12 points for the Rams in his first collegiate start.

Detroit will begin a three game road trip on Saturday, Dec. 14 when the Titans head south to face NC State. Tip-off has been moved up to 6:00 p.m. ET and will be carried live on ESPN3 from Reynolds Coliseum.

GAME NOTES: Detroit leads the all-time series against Rhode Island 3-2 … The Titans recorded seven blocked shots in the win over the Rams … The win over Rhode Island is Detroit's first against an Atlantic 10 opponent since beating St. Louis (62-57) on Nov. 29, 2008 … Evan Bruinsma has scored in double digits for four-straight games and is averaging 20.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game over that stretch.